Linguistic+Dimension+Study

Linguistic Dimensions Study

Phase I: Community Description

 Most of the students from Lauren's class who I had the pleasure to interview lived in predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhoods in Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, and many were raised in bilingual homes. Their neighborhoods were mostly residential, and, other than for the gentrified areas of Harlem near 125th St., most of their neighborhoods lacked ethnic and socio-economic diversity. Most students reported that English and Spanish were often spoken in their neighborhoods. Their professional aspirations ran a wide gamut. Some wanted to become architects or draw professionally. Some students wanted to become homicide investigators while others dreamed of becoming athletes, and there were a variety of other professions by which the students were intrigued. Of course, there were some students who still hadn't decided on what they wanted to be and seemed nervous when confronted with the question.

 In general, the students may have liked their neighborhoods but didn't hesitate to call them ghettos and refer to them disparagingly. When I asked one student from Harlem what I would have to know in order to appreciate his neighborhood, he asked, a little bemused, "To appreciate it?" He said violence was far too common in his neighborhood. He said he'd heard the sounds of gunshots many times from his apartment over the years. Syntactical differences were immediately apparent when I spoke to him, for he didn't consistently use standard subject-verb agreement. Describing an episode with his friends, he said, "We was," instead of, "We were," and I heard him, talking to a friend, say, "you's," instead of, "you're." There were also a few expressions being used with which I was not familiar. The word "wild" was used as a slang term meaning "very," a synonym of the slang term "mad." It seemed that I was possibly the only person at the table a little confused by some of these terms, so I imagine these speech patterns are common both in this school and in the students' neighborhoods.

 Rap music was popular in all of their neighborhoods, and there were also many fans of reggae and regatone, a Spanish offshoot of the genre, in their neighborhoods. Several students said that it was common to see people walking around wearing sagging pants and chains and playing music in the street. There was sometimes dancing in the street, especially in the summer, and children often played, splashing around, near open fire hydrants.

 I think it is fair to say that Ebonics represents the Discourse in these communities, and there are many differences in semantics, especially regarding the n-word, syntax, and morphology between this Discourse and standard English. The first thing that struck me about the difference between this Discourse and the discourse they are being taught in school is the frequency with which the n-word is used. The n-word is often used casually as a term of endearment in these communities, and expletives, such as the f-word, are often used in aggressive phrases, such as, "F--- y'all," yet without intending offense. Considering how freely people speak in these communities, and how warmly Ebonics can be used, I think Ebonics is an amazing social language through which people can express themselves very directly without being impolite. Many speakers of the discourse they are being taught have difficulty performing this feat successfully, yet speakers of Ebonics often do so with ease.

 Subject-verb agreement is frequently used in an unconventional way. "You is," instead of, "you are," is sometimes spoken, which lends itself to the contractions, "you's." There are also differences in meaning and phrases between their Discourse and their discourse. "Yo," is sometimes used as a replacement for "man" or "brother," as in, "What's up, yo?" There are a wide variety of differences between the two discourses, and doing code-switching exercises is an innovative way to help teach them standard English, so they can access the culture of power.

Phase II: Writing Sample Analysis

 Based on several writing samples from Lauren King's class, samples in which students paraphrase, agree or disagree with, and interpret a Shakespeare quote, in this case, "What is done cannot be undone," I think students need help with subject-verb agreement, apostrophes, preventing run-on sentences, avoiding the informal use of the word "like," capitalization, remembering to punctuate their sentences, and using commas in a compound sentence with two subjects and a coordinating conjunction. The students seem to understand the quote and are able to convey their ideas about it. However, they still need to grasp these basic rules of grammar in order to convey their ideas clearly and with precision.

 There are a variety of responses to this quote which demonstrate some common grammatical errors in this class. After re-writing the quote, the author writes that it "...means to me like If you say something that you didn't meant to say you cant take it back." In this example, the author misuses the word like, capitalizes the "i" in "if," a word in the middle of the sentence that should not be capitalized, uses "meant" where "mean" belongs, a problem with subject-verb agreement, and forgets the apostrophe in "can't." The author writes that he/she agrees with the gist of the quote and then tells an anecdote explaining why. Then the author writes, "my Evidence support my claim cause I did something wrong but I couldt take it back I only could say sorry and hope she forgive me." In this case, the author neglects to capitalize the first letter of the first word in the sentence, writes "support" instead of "supports," a problem in subject-verb agreement, writes "cause" instead of "because," neglects to insert a comma after the word "wrong" and before the coordinating conjunction, "but," and neglects to end the sentence with a period after writing, "I couldn't take it back," to avoid a run-on sentence. "I could only say sorry and hope she forgive me," should be its own sentence, and, so that it remains in the past tense and the subject and verbs agree, "forgive" should be changed to "forgave." This student would benefit from exercises in which he/she would edit ungrammatical sentences and re-write ungrammatical texts, such as phrases, song lyrics, dialogue, and sentences, as grammatically correct sentences.

 Other students made similar errors. One student shows a problem with subject-verb agreement and writes, "I think this quote means time is the present and whatever you do in the present cannot be change." Another student forgets to use an apostrophe in a contraction and writes the convoluted sentence, "What you already did you cant just go back and not do it." The student should also realize that the sentence would be clearer if it were to start with the subject, "you." The student should then understand that, in this case, "undo" is a more concise way of saying "not do," and that "it" is unnecessary. Hopefully the student will be able to re-write the sentence as such: "You can't just go back and undo what you have already done." Another student writes this run-on: "I disagree with this because someone I know took a phone from a bookbag and then he put it back in afterward and the person didn't know it was missing." This student needs to learn to use a period to turn a run-on sentence into two grammatical sentences. In this case, a period belongs after "afterward," and the next sentence should begin with, "The person..." Once the student reads the two sentences, he/she should realize that a comma should be used before the coordinating conjunction, "and," in this case, because it is a compound sentence with two subjects. These types of errors seem to be common in this class.

 I think these students would benefit from learning the FANBOYS rules, understanding that coordinating conjunctions are logical linkers, and learning that run-on sentences can often be amended by using a comma and a logical linker in a compound sentence with two subjects. They should also learn that run-ons can be fixed with a semi-colon, or a period and starting a new sentence. I also think the students should be frequently reminded to capitalize only the first letter of the first word in a sentence unless they are using a name and to remember to use apostrophes when writing contractions. These errors won't be easy to overcome, but if they practice editing ungrammatical texts with an abundance of these errors and re-writing sentences, both grammatical and ungrammatical, in their own words, they will learn these rules of English grammar.

Phase III: Turn to Teaching

Topic 1: Using Commas to Introduce Names of Authors and the Titles of Their Works

Grades 9-10

Guiding Question: Why is it important to use commas properly to cite sources?

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Goals & Objectives: After this lesson, SWBAT analyze sentence structure and identify comma errors when referring to an author or the title of an author's work.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Common Core Standards: L.9-10.1

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;"> L.9-10.3

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Introduction: Correctly citing sources in an essay is very important. An essay in which sources aren't cited in the text can leave the author in danger of plagiarism. However, if the author doesn't know when to use commas while citing sources, the essay won't look professional and might not even make sense.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;"> I will demonstrate a correct and incorrect use of commas. I will write on the board, "In //The Great Gatsby// a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald..." I will ask students where the commas should be and why.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 5 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Instructional Procedures:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. (Introductory Activity) I will show students four examples from student essays in which the commas are misplaced when introducing an author and/or work of literature. The students will come up to the board and correct them.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 10 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">2. (Group work) Students will break into groups of four and devise three sentences in which commas are used incorrectly when introducing an author and literary work which would leave the author of the essay in danger of plagiarism. Students will choose their best example to share with the class.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 30 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">3. (Exit Activity) Each student will receive an anonymous student essay containing comma errors when referring to an author and/or literary work. Students will look for errors, correct them, and can finish correcting the papers for homework.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 5 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Instructional Accommodations and Modifications:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Group work will involve inclusive groups, in which high-performing students can work with low-performing students. Extra time will be allotted to students who require it, and I will walk from table to table providing individual help.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Assessment:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Student understanding will be assessed during class, based on their initial class participation when correcting sentences on the board, their progress during group work which I will be monitoring, and their ability to quietly correct another student's essay. I will be walking around the room to make sure students are on-task and understand the exercise.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Extended Practice:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. The class will resume with the student essays which the students had to edit for homework. We will read a few samples to the class.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Materials:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Poster paper and markers for writing their sentences during group work

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">2. anonymous student essays

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Reflection:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Topic 2: Using Prepositions in Conjunction with Commas

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Grades 9-10

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Guiding Question: Why is it important to learn the rules of academic writing?

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Goals & Objectives: After this lesson, SWBAT transpose sentences which begin with prepositional phrases and sentences which end with prepositional phrases.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Common Core Standards: L.9-10.1

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;"> L.9-10.3

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Introduction: Learning academic English is a valuable skill. It will help you impress your college professors, clarify your ideas, and will be essential if you continue your education after college. Writing grammatically correct sentences which involve commas and prepositional phrases can be tricky. It is an area of writing in which many students make mistakes, so we are going to focus on it today.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;"> I will write the definition of "preposition" on the board, have them copy it in their vocabulary notebooks, hand out a sheet with a list of prepositions, and write, "After school we went to the baseball game." I will then ask what the preposition is, what the prepositional phrase is, and where the comma belongs.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 5 minutes.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Instructional Procedures:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. (Introductory Activity) I will write ten sentences of varying levels of difficulty on the board, all beginning with a prepositional phrase. They will contain missing or misplaced commas and the students will approach the board to correct them. They will then transpose them as the students do the same in their notebooks.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 15 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">2. (Group work) Students will break into groups of four and devise ten funny sentences using code-switching techniques which either begin or end with a prepositional phrase and then share them with the class. I will encourage them to write in several styles, as though writing to their teacher, their best friend, the principal, etc.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 25 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">3. (Exit Activity) I will present each student with a page from a novel in which the comma/prepositional phrase rule is ignored, and ask them to correct these grammatical errors.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 5 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Instructional Accommodations and Modifications:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Group work will involve inclusive groups, in which high-performing students can work with low-performing students. Extra time will be allotted to students who require it, and I will walk from table to table providing individual help.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Assessment:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Student understanding will be assessed during class, based on whether they properly transpose sentences. I will also check to see the quality and range of the sentences they devise in groups, and I will pay attention to which students still need help grasping the rule when I check to see how they edited the page from the novel.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Extended Practice:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. The class will resume the next day with questions about editing the novel page and an example of how it was done correctly. I will explain why the editing is correct.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Materials:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Prepositions hand out

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">2. Poster paper and markers to write sentences during group work

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">3. Page from novel

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Reflection:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Topic 3: How to Avoid Sentence Fragments

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Grades 9-10

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Guiding Question: Why is it important to write complete sentences in your academic papers and elsewhere?

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Goals & Objectives: After this lesson, SWBAT recognize and avoid sentence fragments in their academic writing.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Common Core Standards: L.9-10.1

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;"> L.9-10.3

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Introduction: Avoiding sentence fragments in your academic writing is crucial. At both the high school and college level, papers have to be written in complete sentences for the student to receive credit. Avoiding sentence fragments helps students write more fluently and think more clearly. Today, we will figure out how to turn sentence fragments into smooth, complete sentences.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;"> I will write three sentence fragments on the board and call on a student to combine them into one grammatical sentence.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 5 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Instructional Procedures:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. (Introductory Activity) I will write several groups of sentence fragments on the board and ask the class to re-write them as one grammatical sentence on an index card. I will ask students to share their sentences. I will then write two more groups of sentence fragments, of escalating difficulty, and ask students to repeat the exercise.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 10 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">2. (Group work) Students will form groups of four to write clusters of sentence fragments and combine them into funny, complete sentences. Each group will then read their fragments but not their sentences. I will write the fragments on the board and ask the other groups to use them to form a sentence. Each group will form a sentence and read it to the class. I will then have the original group read their sentence, and we'll find out how the others compared.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 30 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">3. (Exit Activity) Each group will receive a page from a novel in which there are many sentence fragments. The authors will be different, so there will be more variation during the next day's community share. The students will be as creative as they choose in re-writing the page using the fragments to form complete sentences. The next day, each group will read its favorite paragraph.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Total time: 5 minutes

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Instructional Accommodations and Modifications:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Group work will involve inclusive groups, in which high-performing students can work with low-performing students. Extra time will be allotted to students who require it, and I will walk from table to table providing individual help.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Assessment:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Student understanding will be assessed during class based on their proficiency in turning a group of sentence fragments into complete sentences. I will make this assessment during the introductory activity as they contribute their ideas and approach the board. I will also be monitoring student progress by walking around the class during their group work, providing individual help, and evaluating their homework the gauge whether they understand how to turn sentence fragments into complete sentences.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Extended Practice:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. The exit activity is the beginning of their homework assignment which they will share the next day with the class.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Materials:

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">1. Index cards

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">2. Pages from novels

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">3. Posters and markers with which the students can write their fragments and complete sentences during group work

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16px;">Reflection: